Talking vending machine



p 5, 1932- H. c. KENYON 1,876,424

TALKING VENDING MACHINE Filed March 19. 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet l By agwm p 1932- H. c. KENYON TALKING VENDING MACHINE Filed March :19, 1930 4 Sheets-Shet 2 I N V EN TOR:

fin W ATTORNEY Harry Che/ yon,

p "1932- H. c. KENYON 1,876,424

TALKING VENDING MACHINE Filed March 19, 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 W Fly/0 63 i I WV I I l l i 1 k 90 90 //VV/V7' 01?: I Harry G. Ken an,

Sept. 6, 1932.

H. C. KENYON TALKI NG VENDING MACHINE Filed March 19. 1930 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 ATTORNEY.

Patented Sept. 6, 1932 HARRY C. KENYON, OF COMPTON, CALIFORNIA TALKING VENDING MACHINE 7 Application filed March 19, 1930. Serial No. 436,994.

This invention relates to vending machines and more particulary to What may be termed a talking vending machine, particularly useful for vending confections, such as candy and chewing gum. I I

The general object of the invention is to provide a vending machine which will talk, during its vending operation, on any suitable subject, such as the merits of the vended goods, whereby the goods maybe advertised. A more particular object is to provide a vending machine including an automaton in the form of a human figure which will deliver the vended goods to the purchaser and apparently talk at the same time.

Other objects and advantages will appear hereinafter. I

The invention is illustrated in the annexed drawings which form a part of this specification and in which Fig; 1 is a front elevation of my invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of my invention taken on line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section of my invention taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

4 is a fragmentary horizontal section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 3. Fig. '5 is a plan view of the ejector and the automaton, showing the ejector in ejecting position.

Fig. 6 is a rear view of the upper end of the ejector.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary front view of one of the magazine compartmentsand the ejector, with said compartment in position to have its. articles ejected. Fig. 8 is a fragmentary front view of the machine with the automaton removed'showing the slot in the front of the machine casing through which the vended articles are ejected. I a

Fig. 9 is a perspective of part of the mechanism for raising the phonograph reproducer off or lowering the reproducer onto the phonograph record. I v

10 is a front elevation of the'phonograph record cylinderv and reproducer and a portion of themechanism for shiftingthe reproducer to play different records and the means for Y automatically returning" the re producer to the beginning of a record after playing the record.

Fig. 11 is an'elevation of the motor driven gearing for running the phonograph, for operating the ejector and for operating the automaton.

Fig. 12 is an elevation of the mechanism for automatically raising the reproducer off the phonograph record when the record has been played and for automatically lowering the reproducer upon the record for playing the record, showing the reproducer raised by the mechanism of? the record. I

Fig. 13 is a view like Fig. 12 except that the reproducer is shown lowered upon the record. 7

Fig. 14 is an elevation of the automatic means for locking the mechanism for'raising or lowering the reproducer when the reproducer is lowered upon the record for playing the record, and for unlocking said mechanism when the record has been played.

Fig. 15 is a side elevation of the coin-controlling mechanism.

Fig. 16 is a front elevation of the controlling mechanism.

Fig. 17 is a side view of the ratchet mechanism for winding themotor.

Fig. 18 is a face view of a slug such as is sometimes surreptitiously deposited in the coin chute.

Fig. 19 is a detail view, partly in. section, of the coin arrester and coin chute with a coin operatively positioned therein.

Corresponding parts are designated by the same reference characters in all thefigures.

My invention includes a magazine 1 for containing the goods to be vended, an ejector 2 for ejecting the goods from said magazine, an automaton 3 for receiving anddelivering 90 the ejected goods, goods to be delivered from said magazine, a phonograph 5 for talking during the vending operation of the machine, and a coin-controlling mechanism 6 for controlling the vending and talking operations of the machine. The parts above described, with" the exception of the automaton 2 and the receiving end of the coin chute 7 of the coin controlling mechanism 6, are enclosed within a casing 8 which is formed with an upwardly coin extending housing 9 enclosing the magazine 1. The magazine 1 is turnably mounted in the housing 9 on the upper end of a vertical shaft 10 which is j ournaled at its lower and upper ends respectively in bearings 11 and 12 on a frame 13 which comprises a base member 14 secured to the walls of the casing 8 and carrying the bearing 11, standards 15 upstanding from said base member within said housing and an upper cross member 16 supported on the upper ends of said standards and carrying the bearing 12. The magazine 1 comprises a plurality of vertical. magazine compartments 17, disposed circumferentially about the shaft 10 and frame 13, and an upper yoke member 18 from which said compartments are suspended at their upper ends as at 19, said yoke member being formed with a central hub 20 through which the upper end of the shaft 10 extends and to which said shaft is secured, and said hub resting upon the upper end of the upper bearing 12' and supporting said yoke member above the upper cross member 16 of the supporting frame 13 for the magazine. Each magazine compartment is open at the top to receive the articles 21 to be vended, such as packages of candy or chewing gum, and each of said compartments is open at the front so that the articles 21 may be exposed to the view of the purchaser through glass panels 22, 23 and 24 forming the front wall of the magazine housing 9, there being inturned vertical flanges at the forward edges of the side walls of the magazine compartments for engaging the front edges of the articles 21 so that they cannot be displaced forwardly in said compartments, the lower ends 26 of said flanges resting above the bottom walls 27 of the compartments a sufficient distance to permit the lowermost articles in the compartments to be ejected from the compartments under said lower ends of said flanges in the manner hereinafter set forth. The bottom wall 27 of each magazine compartment is provided with two slots 28 extending from the rear through the front edge of the bottom wall while the rear wall of each compartment is provided with two notches 29 extending upwardly a short distance from the lower edge of the rear wall and in alignment with the slots 28 respectively.

In the front wall of the casing 8 opposite the position of the lowermost article 21 in the foremost magazine compartment 17, is provided a horizontal slot 30 (Fig. 3) through which said lowermost article may be ejected from said magazine compartment.

The ejector 2 is pivoted inside the casing 8 at 31 with its lower end 32 engaging a cam 33 secured on a shaft 34 ournaled in'bcarings 35 in the lower part of said casing. The upper end of the ejector is formed with a fork 36 with upstanding arms 37 which in the initial position of the ejector rest rearward-.

ly of the notches 29 and slots 28 of the foremost magazine compartment 17 (Figs. 3 and 4). A closing strip 38 is mounted on the upper end of the ejector 2 by means of arms 39 and 40 for closing the delivery slot 30 in the front wall of the housing when the ejector is in its initial position 3) the strip 38 being made in three sections, an intermediate section 41 and two end sections 42, the arm 39 connecting the intermediate section to the ejector fork 36 and the arms 40 connecting the end sections respectively to said fork, there being spaces 43 provided between the ends of the intermediate strip sec tion 41 and the opposite end sections 42 respectively which spaces are positioned to re- Ce Ve the arms 44 respectively of the automaton 3. Fig. 5.) A. spring 44 is connected to the ejector and to the member 14 for normally holding the ejector retracted.

The selector 4 comprises a shaft 45, journaled in bearings 46 in the top of the magazine housing 9, bevel gears 47 and 48, secured on the inner end of shaft and the upper end of the magazine shaft 10 respectively, and a thumb wheel 49 secured on the outer end of shaft 45 in the front of said magazine housing.

The casing 8 is formed with a forwardly extending compartment 50 at the base thereof for mounting the automaton 3 and its operating mechanism. The upper wall of the compartment 50 is formed with a bearing 51 in which is journaled and through which ortends a vertical sleeve 52, on the upper end of which sleeve is secured a small turn table on which stands and is secured the automaton 3, said turntable resting and turning upon the upper wall of the compartment 50. On the lower end of the sleeve 52 within the compartment 50 is secured a bevel gear 54 in mesh with a segmental bevel gear 55 secured on a shaft 56 journaled in bearings 57 in the ends of the compartment 50. The arms 44 of the automaton 3 are pivoted at the elbows by means of'hinge joints 58 on the ends of a horizontal shaft 59 extending through the body of the automaton, so that the forearms 60 of the automaton arms 44 may be swun up or down from the elbows when said shaft is turned one way or the other. An arm 61 is secured on the shaft 59 within the body of the automaton and is connected to the upper end of a link 62 which extends downwardly through the body and between the legs of the automaton and is connected at its'lower end to the upper end of a plunger rod 63, Which plunger extends downwardly from between the legs of the automaton through the turntable 53 and sleeve 52 and engages at lower end a'cam 64 on the shaft 56.

The phonograph 5 may comprise the conventional mandrel 70, record cylinder 71, reproducer 7 2, motor 73 and gearing 74 through which the mandrel is driven by'the motor.

The record cylinder 71 is impressed with a plurality of records 75 corresponding in number to the number of magazine compartments 17 and arranged successively on the cylinder. (Fig. 10.) The subject matter of each record 75 is different from that of all the other records, and the subject matter of each record may relate in some way to the goods in the magazine compartment with which compartment the record corresponds, for example the subject matter of each record may be an advertisement of the goods in the compartment with which the record corresponds. The reproducer 72 is mounted on an arm 76 which is secured on a sleeve 77 slidably mounted on a horizontal rod 78 which is supported on standards 79 upstanding from the base 80 of the phonograph. An arm 81 secured to the sleeve is formed with a semi-cylindrical socket 82 in its lower end, which socket has a thread 83 for engaging a screw rod 84 supported on standards 85 upstanding from the base 80 of the phonograph. An arm 86 extends upwardly from the sleeve 77 into a fork 87 depending from a rack 88 which meshes with a gear 89 on the lower end of the shaft 10, said rack being reciproeatively mounted in bearings 90 depending from the frame base member 14. One of the arms 91 is fixed to the rack 88 while the other arm 92 is pivoted to the rack at93, there being a spring 94 connected at its ends to the arms 91 and 92 respectively for normally holding the arm 92 against a roller 95 on the upper end of the arm 86 and said roller against the arm 91 with the needle 96 at the beginning of one of the records 75. (Fig. 10.) A flexible tube 97 leads from the reproducer 72 to a horn 98 extending through the front wall of the casing through which the sound of the phonograph is projeoted from the front of the machine. The phonograph gearing (Figs. 2 and 11). comprises driving gears 100 to- 112 inclusive, through which the phonograph mandrel and record cylinder are driven, and the gear 113 and pinion 114 whereby the governor is driven by the motor 73 through gears 100 to 105, the gear 113 being secured on'the shaft 116 on which the pinion 105 and gear 106 are secured. The gears 107 and 108 and the phonograph mandrel 70 are secured on the shaft 117. The gear 112 is secured on the shaft 34. The gear 100 is secured on the motor shaft 119. The gears 101 and 102 are secured on a shaft 120. The gears 103 and 104 are secured on a shaft 121. The

' shafts 116 to 121 and the idler 111 are suitably ournaled in the frame 122 of the phonograph. The motor 73 includes a winding ratchet 123 which is held against backward rotation by a pawl 124 mounted on the phonegraph frame 122- A plurality of lugs 125 project outwardly from the casing of the phonograph motor 73.

The coin-controlling mechanism 6 Will now he described. The coin receiving chute 7 is mounted within the casing 3 with its upper end extending outside the casing (Fig. 1). The chute 7 from a point a short distance below its upper. end branches off downwardly into two branch chutes 126 and 127 under the lower ends of which is mounted a coin drawer 123 in the lower part of the casing 8, which drawer is divided. into two compartments 129 and 130 respectively under the branch chutes 126 and 127. A coin arr-ester 131 is provided for arresting the coin 132 in the chute 7 before it is transferred to the collecting branch chute 127. The arrester 131 comprises a lever 133, pivoted to the branch chute 127 at 134, a shelf secured to the lower end of said lever 133 and normally projecting into the upper end of the branch chute 126 and a pair of prongs 136 projecting into the upper end of the b anch chute 127 from an arm 13'. extending at right angles from the upper end of lever 133. The coin deposited in the upper end of the chute 7 and resting upon the arrester shelf is transferred from the chute proper 7 into the upper end of the collecting chute 127 by means of a transferring device 140 which comprises a bar 141 a coin stop 142 connected to the upper end of said bar, and a coin transfer plunger 143 connected to said bar a short distance below said stop, the bar 141 being pivoted at its lower end at 144 to the lower portion of the slug chute 126. Openings 145 are provided in the upper end of the collecting chute through which the prongs 136 extend and an opening 146 is provided in the branch chutes 126 and 127 through. which th shelf 135 extends to its junction with the lower end of lever 133. Openings 147 and 143 are provided in the chute 7 through which the stop 142 and the plunger 143 respectively extend. A spring 149 is connected to the slug chute 126-and the bar 141 for drawing the bar 141 inwardly and the stop 142 and plunger 143 into the chute 7 through said openings 147 and 143 respectively. To the bar 141 the upper end of a flat spring 150 is secured. A coin-controlled lock 151 is provided for locking the machine against operation until a coin 132 of the proper denomination is deposited in the chute 7 which. look includes a bell crank lever 152 pivoted at 154 toa lug 155 outstanding from the celleiting' chute 127, and said lever comprises a curved arm 156 extending into the collecting chute 127 and a depending arm 157 outside said chute. The spring 153 is coiled around a pin 153 on the lug 155 with one end 159 engaging the upper edge of said lag and with the remaining straight portion 160 of the spring depending opposite the bell crank arm 157 in position to be engaged by said arm when swung outwardly. A trip lever 161 is pivoted at 162 to Elie outside of tha slug chute 1526 with its inovenieu i of the rod 184; and wi (h the arm upper end enmeuug one side of the lower arrested in eh raised position by the enend or die .r iever 235-). fin aeouator guggen'iont thereof? with e. stop .94 upmiiundi 163 is secured hy means; of a sleeve 1% from the bottom of the (H, ()u l 'iorniml the co 1. on a crank souit 1-55 jourshaft 35% is secured n. gear 195 ii mealw i nailed in hoarii 5166, 16'? 2 38 in the lowfihe gem 100 through \rhieh the ejeeilor F3 is or part oi ill-.0. cut-sing El. l .efluenor 16?; is operzded from. the moor T23, and o if'oriueiil with 169. the ured u. i953 in in: l curvature oi u'hien being described iron: the 7 through which center of sh: 165. The nien'iher 169 res-ate d irom the motor 2'3. 4 clireealy under the bell erunh arm in normul position and utlizu'reot the outer edge of 1S 1 "me (hui e 'i' is; pivoted u 5; which is held by u "i i'iueh "\vilh the lmver end of .J spring 150 of the 11 e open side of rho (m "15.2; into he transferring device 1.0. T1 m :mentul m liooiling chute 12 so 15 meniheriogis'i ormedwithshoulder l'idzrod coin liui will one ucum 171 for engaging the bell crank arm cei'eh. while {h 157 and pin 1T2 proji iii-s from one :side of liil'hwherehythee suid inenil for engaging; the lowei i it is pushed on tin. ipring 15o for (he purpose oi 'she upper end of an. or described. A pawl 1 3 is mounted on the actuator 16?, for 11 'iug, h ehet Wheel 123. A (raid outer end of the shaft 1 5 outside of the right of the cash 8, l 3; means of which era-roll 2 1.: uci uuii-or 162- may he ihujft 165 and ti "nod for operuting 1e -oiu mechanism. of; I11 Y' Hi. I

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operation of my invention is no a machine will be hereinafter set forth. if. o i, the actuator 163.

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, ii the reooih article to he ended. 'ihe pure use 7, oin of the proper demoninoiiior 188 (*o'uueot the upper one 71:20 7, which coin drops upon the love and said iii? ester 13]. The ouroh r 45 tire ends of the her l 'iillOiklndlQ 1Y4: our. our 7' the lever 181 is eonueo 1 15% which is; connected "7. ed to one end the lower or d oi? an WJZ. we pivoted on e -Luudm'd from ned (he pin 1 0 bolilioui of fin, easing 8., L no; 150., wherei zzetuzriiing' lever eXte'Ldiu e liar l il "ti 3,: ziph motor 7 in the 14-3 pu. in. 7 motor lugs 125. A ve: o up 'ter end oi: i ug; chute slidubiy mounted in 9 Kfii ehuiie won fihe i eil 55 lows part of the (:2 sin crank :irn'i 15%. The We"; in upon in position to be eng neer h the fora 189 of the actuator 1.63 the lower end of on I L ,r restin upon wring); look arm 190 'os the soring; pivmed oi one end, at. l l to 2?. log; 1 uotuu or com .1 1. fiiv 60 stunding he coin about i oistunee Between the lower sine of the look erin mover but stil urr the o in. mm 4. 1.2 bottom oi the nus. aher inovenieni; of the 1 spring 198 Whi ch normally the plunger 18? in eec. Tion w' eicil 6n swinging end 01" said arm in the path of Wise (Fig.15) untilthepinescanes'die i; re arm owingxs sh (Fig. 16) until, the in:

' clockwise by the motor lug 125.

arm 157 and swing said arm against the tension of spring 160, outwardly and the bell crank 152 clockwise, until the bell crank arm 156 is swung out of the collecting chute 127,

whereupon the coin 132 drops through the chute into the compartment 129 of the coin drawer 128, thus collecting the coin. As the actuator 163 is swung forward, as above described, the actuator pawl 173, engaging the motor ratchet 123, winds the spring of the motor 7 3, and when the actuator cam 171 has swung the bell crank 152 and caused the bell crank arm 156 to swing out of the collecting chute 127 and release the coin 132, the forward end 189 of the actuator 163 engages the upper end of the plunger 187 and depresses said plunger and the lock arm 190 (Fig. 14) until the forward end of said arm disengages the rear end of the rod 184 and unlocks said rod, whereupon the motor spring rotates the motor 73 and its shaft 119, the motor lug 125 which has been engaged by the upper end of the trip lever 185 to lock the motor, escaping the upper end of said trip lever, inasmuch as the unlocking of the rod 184 from the lock arm 190 allows said trip lever to be swung (Figs. 12 and 13.) As soon as the motor lug 125 escapes the trip lever 185, the bar 177 descends by gravity and, through the links 183, lever 181 and rod 184, the trip lever 185 is swung counter-clockwise into position for its upper end to be engaged by the next motor lug 125 for again locking the motor after a complete cycle of operations of the machine. The descent of the bar 17 7 allows the reproducer 72 to descend by gravity until its needle 96 engages the record groove at the beginning of one of the phonograph records 75 and the threaded arm socket 82 engages the screw rod 84 (Fig. 3). The rotation of the motor shaft 119 by the motor 73, rotates the ejector shaft 34, through the medium of the gears 100'and 195, and rotates the automaton drive shaft 56 through the medium of the gears 100, 195 and 196. The rotation of the ejector shaft 34 causes the cam 33 to swing the ejector 2 counter-clockwise and the ejector arms 37 to engage the rear edge of the lowermost article 21 in the selected magazine compartment 17 and eject said article forwardly out of said compartment over the forearms 60 of the automaton, the ejector arms 37 passing through the slots 29 and 28 of said compartment, and the ejector arms 39 and 40 supporting the ejected article. The rotation of the automaton drive shaft 56 causes the cam 64, through the plunger 63, rod 62, arm 61 and shaft 59 to raise the forearms 60 of the automaton 3 through the spaces 43 in the ejector-closing strip 38 until said forearms engage and lift the ejected article 21 off the ejector arms 39 and 40 and above the ejector closing strip 38. Further rotation of the shaft 7 56, through the medium of the bevel gears 55 and 54, sleeve 52 and turntable 53, rotates the automaton 3 one half a revolution, into a position facing the purchaser in front of the machine, with the ejected and vended article 21 resting upon the forearms of the automaton in position to be taken by the purchaser. The automaton remains thus facing the purchaser long enough for the purchaser to pick up the vended article, because at this time the mutiliated portion of the bevel gear 55 escapes the bevel gear 54. The rotation of the motor shaft 119, by the motor 7 3, rotates the phonograph mandrel and record cylinder 71, through the medium of the gear 100,

pinion 101, shaft 120, gear 102, pinion 103, shaft 121, gear 104, pinion 105, shaft 116, gears 106 and 107 and shaft 117 whereupon the phonograph with its reproducer needle 96 engaging a selected record 75 plays said record, the reproduced needle being fed along the groove of the record by the engagement of the threaded arm socket 82 with the screw rod 84, which screw rod is rotated from the shaft118 through the gears 110, 111 and 112,

and the sound of the phonograph passing out through the reproducer 72, tube 97 and horn 98. As the reproducer travels over the record the roller 95 of arm 86 engages and swings the arm 92 outwardly against the tension of spring 94. I I

l Vhen the phonograph has played the record, the next motor lug 125 engages the upper end'of the trip lever 185 and swings said lever clockwise whereupon the reproducer 72 is raised off the record cylinder 71 by the engagement of the bar 177 with the reproducer pin'17 6, which bar is raised by said trip lever through the medium of the rod 184, lever 181 and link 183 and the shaft 179, lever 182 and link 183. When the reproducer has been raised off the record cylinder, the motor 72 is brought to a stop by the engagement of the end of the rod 184 with the stop arm 190,

which prevents further swinging movement of the trip lever 185 by the engagement of the motor lug 125 with the upper end of said lever, and prevents escapement of said lug past the upper end-of said lever. The reproducer 72 is then returned to thebeginning of the record by the engagement of the arm 92 with the roller 95 under the influence of the spring94 which causes the reproducer sleeve 77 to'slide backwardly on the rod 78 until the roller 95 is arrested by the fixed arm 91 M with the reproducer needle 96 directlyover thebeginning of the record groove. By the time the motor is'brought to a stop the lower portion of cam 33 will have come adjacent the lower end of the ejector 2 and the spring 44 will have retracted the ejector as shown in Fig. 8, while the mutilated portion of the bevel gear 55 will have escaped the bevel gear 54; and the bevel gear 55 will have rotated the bevel gear 54 sleeve 52, turntable 53 and the automaton 3 one half a revolution so that the automaton will again face the machine as shown in Fig. 3, by which time the lower side of the cam 64L will have rotated under the plunger 63 and the forearms 60 of the automaton will have dropped to their lowermost position together with the arm 61, link 62 and plunger 63 (Fig. T his completes the cycle of operations of the machine, and the machine is new again set for vending another article as above described.

When a slug 200 with an opening 201 therein 18) is deposited in the chute 7 the plunger 1.4.3 will pass through the slug opening the crank 17% is pulled forwardly and the bar 141 is swung inwardly by the spring 1&9 and the slug instead of being transferred to the collecting chute 127, will remain resting upon the arrestor shelf above the slug chute, until the crank 17 i is released and, the actuator is allowed to return to its initial position, after the operating movement of the actuator is arrested by the engagement of the actuator shoulder with the bell crank arm 157 during which return movement of the actuator to its initial position, the actuator pin 172 engaging the lower end of the trip lever 161., will swing said lever counterclockwise and the upper end of said lever engaging the lower end of the arrester lever 133 will swing the arrester 131 clockwise and withdraw the arrester shelf 135 from the slug chute 126, whereupon the slug 200 will drop down said chute into the compartment 129 of the coin drawer 128, thus preventing operation of the machine by the slug and delivering the slug from the machine.

I do not limit my invention to the construction. hereinv disclosed, because various changes may he made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a machine as disclosed, a magazine comprising a plurality of compartments for articles to be vended, means for operating said magazine to bring any of said compartments into vending position, means for ejecting articles from the compartments respectively while in vending position, an automaton, means for actuating the automaton for receiving and for delivering the ejected articles respectively to the purchaser, and means synchronized with said magazine operatingmeans for audibly advertising the articles when vended. from said compartments respectively while in vending position.

2. In a machine as disclosed, a magazine comprising a plurality of compartments for articles to he vended, means for operating said magazine to bring any of said compartments into vending position, means for ejecting articles from the compartments respectively while in Vending position, an automaton, means for actuating said automaton for receiving and for delivering the ejected articles respectively to the purchaser, a-

phonograph including a matrix containing a plurality of sound records, means whereby said records are respectively synchronized with said magazine compartments, and means HARRY C. KENYON. 

